how much would you say a good set up cost

Several un-explainable and un-purchaseable equipment :-) Well of course it all started as somebodys gear, and ended up with just their original name tag on it in the end, Mainly just all highly customized pieces and specific pieces ordered and altered with the best of the best to effect the important aspects of the electronics, cables and room itself. Nothing special just done right from the ground up this time vs. trying to match everything, there is always tradeoffs.

Tvad
Exactly correct :-)_ And trust me I don't say that to be pompus, and Hell I don't know much, but learned a lot if that makes sense. But I can say for somebody to pay someone that does have a clue on some of this stuff and do it right would cost as much as some just buying the next level of component, which will re-sell of course better un-altered in most cases.

Thanks, and it is a lot of fun, and of course takes a ton of patience with good direction... Kinda like building a custom house, you need to decide who you want to make that real special faucet on that bathtub!

Tvad's 10k system (Merlin,Ars, Rega) would be very, very good and comparable to most anything out there except for full range bass - but that system combo is one I would hghly endorse for bang for the buck.